Apr 30th, 2019

Author: Stacy McNaught

Sandra has been part of our community for almost a year now and being a shift worker, she attends quite a range of classes on our timetable so there is a fair chance many have had the pleasure of meeting her in person.

As always, the best way to get to know more is to take some time to chat next time you see her in the box.

Name: Sandra Peterson

Life Level (Age): 36

Job: Doctor

When did you start with CFWS? : July 18

Your Fundamentals experience? : I had done a bit of running and boot camps before, but had never really been to gyms and had never lifted a barbell.

Some friends recommended CFWS and honestly, I was a bit nervous because it was all new stuff I had never tried before. But the Fundamentals course was really great to learn the basics, and I felt confident going into my first classes and having the support from the coaches to keep practising and improving.

It’s amazing to think back, how difficult some of those movements were to start with just using a wooden broomstick – and now I can lift 30kg barbells above my head!

Your CrossFit experience to date? : I’ve never really been “fit” before and had a really bad habit of giving up on exercise when I hadn’t got to Olympic standard within a few weeks of trying!

So its been awesome to actually enjoy something and stick with it for long enough to see results. I’ve constantly surprised myself with what I can achieve – for example, getting to the top of the rope climb for the first time a few weeks ago was huge for me (and scary!). I love seeing improvements in strength with weightlifting PBs and difficult things like double unders.

It might sound strange, but one of the biggest things I’ve noticed is how much easier it is to do day to day stuff now – climb stairs whilst having a conversation, get up from the floor, squat down to tie shoelaces, get heavy things down off high shelves – it has made me realise how unfit I was and how bad my mobility was before!

Life outside of CFWS? : I bought a house last year which is kind of a fixer-upper, so I seem to spend most of my free time in Mitre 10! But apart from that, I love snowboarding so I’m looking forward to winter again for lots of Queenstown trips.

Any movements you particularly like? : I really like a workout that has rowing in it! I’ve never really been on a rowing machine before but it turns out they are really fun. And I also enjoy wall balls! You can really get in the zone when you get a good rhythm and pace going.

What movements are you paying particular attention too? : I think I still have a way to go to improve my technique on complex barbell movements like snatches – and if I can get better at the technique, I will be able to lift more weight. I’m also trying to get better at skipping – I can manage one double under at a time but linking them together is really hard!

Anything coming up on your to-do list?? : I really want to be able to do a single pull-up! That is my goal for 2019.

What do you think the most unpleasant sounding word is to you? :Burpees

What is the first thing that you do when you wake up? : Go straight to make coffee – I can’t do anything without coffee!

Do you prefer to swim in pools of the ocean? : It depends on the ocean! Southland is not quite the same as Fiji…

What makes you angrier than it really should? : Obstructive and rude colleagues at work

What makes you laugh more than it really should? : I spend way too much time looking at cat videos and cat memes…

Have you read any good books lately? : I’ve just joined a book club and we are reading Pigeon English at the moment which is really good, and something I probably wouldn’t have read otherwise. I also liked Tia-Clair Toomey’s book for some CrossFit inspiration!

What life lesson have you had to learn the hard way? : You can’t expect to just be good at something the first time you try – it usually takes a lot of persistence and hard work!